Apparel with Built-in Undergarment

ABSTRACT

An article of apparel includes an outer garment which is provided with built-in inner garment. The inner garment, which serves as a foundation garment, may be made of SPANDEX material. The inner garment is secured to the inside of the outer garment at the waist.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the modern world most ladies want to appear trim and thus the advent of various figure enhancing undergarments. The typical woman has various styles of dresses, skirts and pants, some of which are designed to be tighter fitting than others. A tight fitting outer garment may require a different undergarment than a more loosely fitting dress. Thus a lady must take the time to choose an appropriate undergarment and the time to sequentially fit the undergarment and the outer garment. While adjustable corsets have been used, such require excessive time and effort to adjust and fit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides apparel with a built-in form-shaping undergarment. The undergarment includes a relatively wide band encircling its attachment location made from an elasticized material such as SPANDEX which will not roll and which retains it shape after multiple cleanings. The undergarment has downwardly or upwardly extending (or both) contoured shaping layers of SPANDEX type material, which minimally forms an undergarment that provides the desired fit for the lady and may affect the shape of the outer garment to which it is attached.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A is a front view of the undergarment within an outer garment according to one embodiment of the present invention with parts broken away for illustration purposes;

FIG. 1B is a front view of the undergarment according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a front view of the undergarment within an outer garment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention with parts broken away for illustration purposes;

FIG. 2B is a front view of the undergarment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a front view of the undergarment within an outer garment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention with parts broken away for illustration purposes;

FIG. 3B is a front view of the undergarment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the undergarment within an outer garment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention with parts broken away for illustration purposes;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the undergarment within an outer garment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention with parts broken away for illustration purposes;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the undergarment within an outer garment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention with parts broken away for illustration purposes;

FIG. 7A is a front view of the undergarment within an outer garment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention with parts broken away for illustration purposes;

FIG. 7B is a front view of the undergarment according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-7B, an undergarment is formed by sewing a layer of SPANDEX material along portions of the interior of an outer garment. As shown in Figures, the undergarment can underlie both partial interior sections of the outer garment, as well as the entire interior section of the outer garment. Additionally, the undergarment can be applied to both women's and men's apparel. The women's apparel can range from skirts and dresses, including long-sleeved, short-sleeved, strapless, sleeveless, etc., dresses and pants.

An important feature is the use of a SPANDEX type block copolymer of polyurethane and polyethylene glycol material that provides sufficient support and retention and that is dimensioned to both cover sufficient areas of concern, while still being fully covered by the outer garment so that that the undergarment is not detected regardless of the normal positions employed by those wearing the garment. Different devices of fiber can be used for the entire SPANDEX portion, or different deniers may be used for difference areas.

FIG. 1 shows the combination garment in the form of a conventional ladies dress. The dress 40 has a waist 43, sleeves 47 around arms 42 skirt 41 and hem 49 and a neckline 45. An inner garment 1 has a waistband 3 which may be reinforced elastic material, the same material as the rest of the inner garment, which may be formed from a heavier denier or the same denier fabric depending upon the elasticity desired. The tubular elastic garment 5 which hangs from waistband 3 contacts the hip and thigh area ending above the knee at 11. Below the waistband 3 the tubular elastic garment is separate from the dress 40, the only connection being where the waistband is sewn into the garment.

The undergarment may or may not be reinforced locally at the area indicated as 9. Alternately, the garment may be graded to have diminishing elasticity away from the waistband.

FIGS. 2 and 2A illustrate a sleeveless dress 40 a with undergarment 1 a including a full bodice 17 having neck opening 13 corresponding to opening 45 of the dress but larger and arm holes 15 corresponding to dress arm holes 49. Neck opening 13 is sufficiently large to allow a person to step into the inner garment from the top, while the dress is closed separately with a zipper.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the sleeved variant of FIGS. 2A and 2B wherein the bodice is continued within the sleeves 47 as tubular section 17, ending at least one inch above the hem of the sleeve. The undergarment may end at 19, approximately at the end of the sleeve 51, or higher on the arm.

FIG. 4 shows a variant combination of the configurations of FIGS. 2 and 3 wherein the elasticized portion of a sleeved dress extends only to the arm holes 15, not through the arm portions.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show variants of FIG. 1 wherein a strapless dress is the base material and different hem styles 41 and 51 are employed for effect.

FIG. 7 shows one variant adapted to pants where the girdle 60 is attached to pants 71 at waist 73 and extends upwards outside the pants to a band 63 and the level of the 11^(th) rib. Reinforced hem 65 is the preferred attachment point to the pants. Shirt 81 would be bloused over the elastic band 61. A person steps into the girdle and pulls pants on by pulling the girdle up.

It is intended that the scope of the present invention include all modifications that incorporate its principal design features, and that the scope and limitations of the present invention are to be determined by the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. It also should be understood, therefore, that the inventive concepts herein described are interchangeable and/or they can be used together in still other permutations of the present invention, and that other modifications and substitutions will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. 

1. An item of personal apparel comprising: an outer garment and an inner garment connected to said outer garment including a layer of material that provides support and/or retention qualities to those wearing the personal apparel.
 2. An item of personal apparel according to claim 1 wherein said outer garment is a dress and wherein said inner garment is attached to said outer garment only at the waist.
 3. An item of personal apparel according to claim 2 wherein said inner garment extends only from the waist down.
 4. An item of personal apparel according to claim 1 wherein said inner garment extends from the waist up.
 5. An item of personal apparel comprising: an outer garment; and an elastic girdle attached to said outer garment at the waist and extending above and outside said outer garment toward the chest.
 6. An item of personal apparel according to claim 1 wherein said inner garment has different thicknesses at different locations corresponding to different support qualities. 